Off the Beaten Path in San Diego's Balboa Park

Park on Park Boulevard and walk to this beautiful landmark. There is a parking lot right here but good luck finding a spot...

The Balboa Park Carousel is one of two restored 19th-century carousels with original equipment and animals in San Diego. You can ride the horses that gallop up and down, take a smooth cruise on a dragon or a goat, or ride a stallion on the outer edge and reach for the brass ring. You win a free ride if you grab the brass ring.

A note on grabbing the ring. Don't try to hook your index finger through the ring. Keep your fingers together and grip the ring with your thumb and the knuckle of your index finger.
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Admission: $2

Hours
Sat.-Sun and school holidays year-round: 11am-5pm
Mid-Summer-Labor Day, open daily: 11am-5pm

Address
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

It's just a few steps to another hidden treasure in the park. OK lots of people do this but many people come to the park over and over again and never see this...

If you saw Steve Martin run a mini railroad locomotive in the movie, "The Jerk," you know what I'm talking about. This mini railroad is something every kid and every adult who loves big toys will want to do. The train is powered by a one-fifth scale model of a General Motors Model F-3 diesel locomotive that pulls enough little cars to accommodate 48 passengers.

Yes you can go on it again, there's plenty of time.
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Admission: $2

Hours
Regular hours: Sat. Sun. (and school holidays), 11:00am. - 4:30pm. Mid-summer through Labor Day Thru Labor Day: Open Daily until 6:30pm.

Address
1800 Zoo Place
San Diego, CA 92101

A nice walk along Zoo Drive to Village pace will bring you to one of two giant trees on this tour. We pass this tree on the way to a few hidden gardens but if you're looking for shade, this is it!

This Moreton Bay Fig tree (one of two gigantic fig trees on this tour) has a fence around it now, probably because the roots are so tall -- and all the climbing I did on it. As a kid, on break from a Junior Theatre show -- at the Case del Prado Theatre across the way -- I would climb this tree, play frizbee under it or nap within the folds of its roots. I may have kissed someone here and it might be possible to see my initials carved there somewhere.

There's also a dance group that meets here called The Moreton Bay Fig Morris dancers. Morris dancing is odd to say the least but fun to watch under a giant tree with shade for all.

If you have ever seen the movie "Citizen Cane," you've seen this building. It played Cane's home Xanadu in the film.

The Casa del Prado Theatre is the performance venue for several Balboa Park arts programs including San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, San Diego Youth Symphony and various other booked-in events. So, yes, there will be artsy kids running around.
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Admission: Varies

Hours
Available 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Address
1650 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101

After looking at the gigantic Fig and Xanadu, you'll have to cross The Balboa Park Pedestrian Bridge to see two more hidden gems in Balboa Park. You can get a few nice views from this bridge, including Park Boulevard, which runs North and South; the Zoo parking lot (North), Florida Canyon (East) and the Prado, to which we will return after seeing the gardens.

Anyone venturing across the bridge will probably turn right and run for the roses but if you take your time, you'll see what few visitors to Balboa park ever see: more than two acres of drought-resistant plants in odd shapes and sizes. If you're in blooming season (January-March) you will be amazed by the variety of colors and shapes of the flowers. Take the time and make a left. You'll be glad you did.

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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
2525 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101

The rose garden is passed by millions of people every year and few, literally, stop and smell the roses. More's the pity because there are more than 2,400 rose bushes in 180 varieties. They're nestled on walkways, under arbors and near fountains and they all smell better than they look.

The garden is officially called the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden. Probably because the Parker Foundation (one of San Diego's best-endowed) funded its planting.

Peak bloom season is April and May, although many roses are in bloom from March through December.
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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
2525 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101

It's OK to play in this fountain in you want--especially if it's a hot day and you didn't play in the fountain in the Rose Garden. There is also food here.

This fountain was designed by a family friend, Alphonse Macy and it is more than just a fountain. The water from the fountain runs in rivulets down both sides of the stairs on the way to The Prado and the Zoro Gardens.

Look for the water descending the stairs and the kids floating leaves down either side.

Follow the flow of the water from the fountain onto the Prado. A walk on this Prado (especially on weekends) is a tour of the best street performers in San Diego. These performers have auditioned, received permission, and paid a permit fee, to do what they do and much of it is really good. They pass the hat, which is also legal, so feel free to give a little something as it's their only compensation.

Zoro Garden is on the way to a lot of things so most people don't bother to stop and look. You should stop and look. Especially if you like great stone work dating from 1915, or it's butterfly season or you've managed to travel back to the 1930s.

In the 30s there was much more to see as Zoro Gardens was where nudists met. See the photo below of tourists peeking through the fence (not there now) at the nude frolicking...

Butterfly season? Yes. Park employees seed the peat and plants with butterfly eggs and they, well, bloom. This is worth a five-minute stop and one of the greatest places for shade in the park.
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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
1649 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101

Look for turtles in the pond that people have liberated from their homes; and there's a really cool plant in the Botanical garden that moves when you touch it.

Really.

Thousands of park visitors pass right by this spot and never take advantage of the blast of warm air that comes out of the San Diego Museum of Art's air conditioning system.

The museum has one of the finest collections of Asian Art, some fine American and European Masters and even a Rembrandt. But outside, you can get a blast of air that will lift your hair straight up! You can also lose a Frisbee, bounce a ball higher than you ever thought possible and get leaves to do amazing things.

Take a moment out of your day to do this, you won't be disappointed.

If you get dirty (OK, when you get dirty), there's a fountain here to discreetly wash your hands in.

The flowers in Alcazar Garden change monthly and they're always beautiful. Stroll the lanes and look for Old Globe Theatre actors looking for a hidden rehearsal hall entrance and wedding photographers waiting for you to get out of the frame.
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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
1363 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101

This spot isn't even on the Balboa Park website but it's probably the coolest place in the park -- even if you don't have a bow and arrows. I actually hope you don't have a bow and arrows...

It's hard to find but once you catch the trail head, the course is laid out in a natural circle. Look for all the oddly-appointed targets, broken arrows and really pretty scenery.

To find the entrance, go to the bathrooms in the Alcazar Parking lot (don't go IN the bathrooms here, there are better and less secluded bathrooms in the park -- I recommend using a bathroom attached to one of the many museums in the park), then, facing the bathroom building go to your left until you think you're going to get lost in the woods. Look for a sign that says Danger, Archery Range. Then you'll see a nice dirt trail to follow.
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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
1363 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101

Though you can't see it in the map, there is a wooden bridge here. It leads past a giant Morton Bay Fig tree, which you can't miss, down into a very pretty canyon. The trail leads through the center of Balboa Park and it's even possible to see where the San Diego Mounted Park Police keep their horses.

The trail loops around to the Archery Range and, if you wanted, you could cross under the Cabrillo Bridge. If you do this, you might see some Old Globe costume shop workers but, if they're outside the shop, they're probably working on shoes or something with very strong-smelling glue or dye.

If you feel lost, you can always look up for the largest landmark in this part of the park. The California Tower at Museum of Man. This beautiful tiled dome will let you know where you are. The other landmark is the giant Moreton Bay Fig you passed under to go down the stairs.

I recommend you take the trail half as far as you like and then come back up the stairs. The trail is well marked and you will see all kinds of plant life and more animals than you would in the park proper.
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Admission: Free

Hours
Sunrise to sunset is best

Address
Palm Canyon
1549 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101